Chapter 285: The Sun Was Setting

April’s eyelids fluttered shut, her lashes coming to rest against her pale cheeks as her breathing smoothed out into a slow, rhythmic pattern. The rigid tension in her shoulders melted away entirely, her head falling limp into the soft swell of the pillow.

Xavier’s brow furrowed, his dark eyes locking onto her motionless face in immediate alarm. "April?" He reached out, his fingers lightly brushing her cheek. "Oliver... why isn’t she responding? Did she lose consciousness?"

Oliver calmly zipped his medical bag, his posture relaxed and unbothered. "She’s asleep. I slipped a mild sedative into the injection."

Alexander stared at him in utter disbelief. "A sedative? You told her the analgesic would make her functional so she could leave!"

"Analgesic isn’t magic," Oliver said smoothly, standing up and dusting off the knees of his trousers. "The smooth muscle spasms stop for now, but once the immediate relief sets in, the underlying inflammation remains. If she pushes herself to walk around, the cramps will inevitably return—and it will be twice as severe. The best treatment right now is forced, uninterrupted REM sleep."

Alexander shook his head, a faint, wry smile touching his lips. "I thought you cared more about your observation subjects than their comfort, Dr. Baxter."

"I do," Oliver replied dryly, checking his watch. "But without a functioning subject, what good is observation? A broken tool yields no valuable data."

Nat let out a breathy, rumbling laugh from the end of the bed, folding his broad arms over his chest. "Hah. She’s going to give you a hell of an earful once she finds out what you did, Doc."

Oliver simply shrugged, completely unphased. "What did I do? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nat Collins. She simply fell asleep due to severe exhaustion." He turned his head toward Emily, his tone shifting slightly. "I assume she didn’t sleep much due to the pain?"

Emily, who was sitting quietly on the edge of the mattress, shook her head with a soft, mournful sigh. "She’s been like this all night. She didn’t even get a hours sleep, and she wouldn’t let out a single sound."

A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the bedroom.

The men looked down at April’s serene, resting face. The realization that she had been silently enduring hours of agonizing, clawing pain while trying to brainwash herself that she was fine, left a tight, aching knot in each of their chests.

Xavier cleared his throat, his gaze lingering on April’s peaceful expression before he turned to face the rest of the room.

"For now," Xavier said quietly, his voice leave-no-room-for-argument firm, "we are canceling today’s competition schedule."

Alexander nodded without a single second of hesitation. "Agreed. The entire point of hosting it was so April could collect the dishes fresh into her inventory anway. Without her there, pushing forward is pointless."

"And she made it crystal clear she doesn’t want them frozen or pre-stored," Nat added, his eyes fixed on her pale face. "So we wait."

"I’ll have the event coordinators issue a press statement citing an unexpected scheduling conflict," Xavier murmured, reaching down to pull the soft duvet higher up over April’s shoulders, tucking her in with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with his usual stern demeanor.

They stepped back quietly, letting Emily stay by her sister’s side while they made their way out to ensure the mansion—and the day—was kept entirely silent for her rest.

Soon, the soft, amber glow of the setting sun filtered through the sheer curtains, casting long, warm shadows across the quiet bedroom.

April’s eyes fluttered open. Her mind felt thick, foggy, and unnaturally heavy as she blinked up at the dimming ceiling.

Slowly, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, the soft cotton duvet slipping down her waist. The sharp, clawing agony in her lower abdomen was gone, replaced by a dull, faint numbness—but as her eyes caught the deep orange hues painting the horizon outside her window, her brain instantly went into full alert.

The sun was setting.

April sat up straight, a sudden spike of confusion tearing through the lingering drowsiness.

What happened?

She grabbed the digital clock on her nightstand. It was long past 5:00 PM.

Her brow furrowed into a tight, disbelieving knot. She had only meant to close her eyes for twenty minutes so the pain would completely numb. She was supposed to get dressed, go downstairs, and join the team to the venue to stock the freshly prepared dishes into her spatial dimension.

How had twenty minutes turned into an entire day? And why the hell did no one wake her?!

April threw off the covers, her eyes narrowing as the memory of the morning came rushing back—Oliver kneeling by her bed, the cool touch of his fingers, the small syringe, and his smooth, unbothered voice telling her it would just take the edge off.

But it didn’t just take the edge off. It did way more and now she as mad.

"Oliver..." April gritted out under her breath, her face darkening with immediate, realization-fueled irritation.

The surgeon had drugged her.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, April stood up, testing her balance before sitting back down.

Physical energy had returned to her body, and the severe cramps were at bay for now, but the sheer absurdity of sleeping through her entire schedule had her cranky edge flaring right back up.

Before she could stand up again and head down to demand an explanation, the bedroom door clicked softly open and Samuel stepped into the room holding a small tray with a fresh glass of warm water.

The moment his eyes landed on April standing upright beside the bed, his posture straightened into immediate attention. "Miss April, you’re awake—"

"They schemed against me, didn’t they?" April cut in sharply, her voice still raspy from sleep, her face dark with absolute indignation. She folded her arms over her chest. "Oliver drugged me. He put a sedative in the injection, I know it! If not, I wouldn’t have passed out for the whole day. I explicitly told them I had a schedule to keep, and instead of following protocol, they colluded to put me out for the entire day!"

"Miss April, please calm down," Samuel said smoothly, setting the tray on the nearest side table. "Master Reed canceled the competition for today. There was no loss of inventory—"

"Canceled?" April echoed, her eyes widening in utter disbelief. "Without my authorization?!"

Driven by a sudden, volatile wave of cranky frustration, she stood up and began to march straight past Samuel toward the door to demand an explanation. But as she took a step, the lingering effects of the heavy sedative combined with a sudden, sharp dip in her blood pressure struck her all at once.

Her knee completely buckled.

"Woah—"

April gasped, her body tilting sideways. Her hand shot out instinctively, grabbing the crisp fabric of Samuel’s jacket to break her fall.

The movement was so sudden, so entirely unexpected, that even Samuel’s sharp instincts were caught off guard. He reached out to catch her waist, but the sudden momentum pulled him right down with her.

THUD.

They hit the thick Persian rug together.

April let out a soft grunt as the breath left her lungs, her back resting against the soft floor.

When the world stopped spinning, she blinked up to find Samuel positioned directly over her, his hands braced on either side of her shoulders to keep his heavy weight from crushing her.